A MORNING WITH NATURE, ETC. 245 
and sparkled under the warm rays of the rising sun. 
It seemed at times as if imbued with life, and as it 
clung tenaciously to the overburdened trees it seemed 
to breathe with a sigh, and when at last it could no 
longer hold to the branches, a gentle rustling and the 
quivering mass fell toward the earth, carrying bunch- 
es with it from the lower branches, while myriads of 
shooting stars sparkled for an instant in the sunlight, 
and then, as if with one last expiring gasp, a cloud of 
snow-white dust arose in the air, and instantly disap- 
peared. 
*T was Nature’s painting, ’t was Nature’s scene, 
We were enchanted, indeed in paradise lost, 
As we saw the wood in silver and green, 
All covered with snow-white, clinging frost. 
It seemed as if we were in fairy-land, 
That earthly thoughts and things dissolved in air; 
We saw bright jewels sparkling in the morning sun, 
Emeralds, rubies, diamonds, jewels beyond compare 
And, Oh! how beautifully it glistened 
On trees, on leaves and waving grass; 
In silent admiration we looked, then listened, 
As it quivered and fell in a trembling mass. 
I have hunted, I might say, all my life, at least since 
a boy of twelve; have seen Nature dressed in all her 
various garbs, both joyous and mournful, in her warm 
springtime, in the summer of her life, and in the ma- 
ture fall, as well as in the golden age of winter, but this 
was one of the grandest sights I ever witnessed. 
Later in the day, while lying at full length in the 
bottom of the boat, half buried in hay, eating a gener- 
ous lunch, I saw, far off in the west, ducks high in the 
air, travelling south, as I supposed. Suddenly, they | 
hesitated, and, making a wide swoop, dropped almost 
perpendicularly behind a cluster of trees. Soon another 
